


The Feeling Of Ice Water

by marille



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: M/M, but we're here now, how did i end up binging atla and writing fanfic in quarantine? i have no idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23501332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marille/pseuds/marille
Summary: Sokka is stuck on the south pole, lonely, frustrated and he doesn't know what the future of his tribe will look like.Meanwhile Zuko is in the fire nation, getting overwhelmed with his responsibilities as the fire lord and  decides he needs to get out. Under the disguise of a state visit Zuko decides to make his way to the south pole, where he meets Sokka once again.
Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 101





	1. Sokka

**Author's Note:**

> I never thought I would write atla fanfiction but I have been reading a lot of zukka so I thought I would give it a shot. 
> 
> I've never written for this fandom before and maybe quarantine has made me go (a bit) crazy.
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading the first chapter anyway and that it is somewhat readable!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never thought I would write atla fanfiction but I have been reading a lot of zukka so I thought I would give it a shot.
> 
> I've never written for this fandom before and maybe quarantine has made me go (a bit) crazy.
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading the first chapter anyway and that it is somewhat readable!

The hut was warm when Sokka entered. Something he was grateful for, because after so long out in the cold, Sokka's hands were so rigid he could barely hold the papers he was meant to go over with his father.  
Rebuilding the south pole was hard work, and not as rewarding as he had hoped. Sokka had been working on establishing stable trade routes and improving the life of his tribe for a few years now and he was getting frustrated. 

It had also been lonely. Katara was travelling with Aang for his responsibilities as the avatar and Toph was spending some time teaching metal bending to children in the earth kingdom and trying to reconcile her relationships with her parents. 

Although according to the one letter that Sokka had gotten from her, her mother was still treating her like a little child. Toph had forced a pupil to write the letter and Sokka had been quite confused about a visit Toph had gotten from the 'Fiya lod'. 

Sokka took off his coat and his boots and greeted Bato, who lived in the hut with Sokka's father.

“Hakoda said he'd be back by dinner time, Sokka. So just sit down and warm up a bit while you wait.” Bato said.

“Thank you. Have you gotten confirmation that the earth king is content with the agreements or does he want further negotiation?”

“I haven't heard back yet, but I don't have high hopes that he will agree. He seems like the type to capitalise on vulnerabilities of poor people.”

Sokka sighed. He had thought that after the war the world would be magically cured of all evil. Big or small. He had been young then and probably a bit naïve.

Well, he was still young, but maybe a bit less naïve now.

The population of the south pole was small and the question of its survival was still up in the air.  
How could his tribe survive if the younger people were leaving for opportunities and their land had nothing to offer economically. 

Sokka didn't blame anyone for leaving. He had travelled the world as well and who could blame someone for wanting to live where there's work opportunities and so much more to see than just ice and snow all year. 

He put the papers down and sat down in front of the fire. It smelled of sea prunes and Sokka closed his eyes. God, maybe if they finally managed to get the trade routes going he would get to finally eat something that didn't reek of fish again.

Bato looked at him.

“Had a rough day today, huh?”

Sokka closed his eyes. Had it been a rough day? He couldn't tell. It had just been the same as all other days lately. He felt like he had failed his tribe. Like it was his personal inabilities that had led to this. He knew it wasn't true, but that's how he felt.

“Sometimes I don't know what we are doing this for.” Sokka answered.  
“The tribe gets smaller and smaller and the people have to leave if they want to get a real job or receive any real kind of education. Any other education than Gran Gran teaching little kids how to put two and two together, really.” Sokka grimaced.

“Hey. Gran Gran also teaches them how to tie up their trousers, so little Kato doesn't lose his while going ice fishing again.” Bato said. Sokka could hear the smile in his voice.

He couldn't help but grin at the mental image. That had been pretty funny.

“Don't get too frustrated, Sokka. I know you're doing your best.”

Sokka was glad that Bato and his father were together now. Bato was reasonable and uplifting, while still remaining realistic. Sokka had always liked him.

“Hm. I just worry about the future.” 

“I think we all do.” Bato said slowly. “It feels bizarre to live in a time of peace after only knowing war for so long. I don't know the future of our tribe, Sokka. But I do know that we all still need to heal and that will take a long time. If we live here happily for only a few years more before we are forced to relocate, then so be it, but we can still enjoy our time her now.”

Sokka nodded, mulling it over in his head.

Bato turned to the stove. “Enough of this for today. Did you want to stay for dinner? Or did you agree to go to Gran Gran tonight?” 

“I think I'll stay, Gran Gran's been talking about why I haven't got anyone special in my life.” Sokka grinned.

Bato smiled. “Oh, well. Don't blame her. She's getting sentimental.”

“I hope Katara visits soon and brings Aang so Gran Gran can fuss over him. Last time Aang was here she sewed him a coat because she said his was insufficient. And she made him eat sea prunes because she said he was too thin. Aang hates sea prunes and it almost made him puke but he was too polite to say no.”

“Good to know Gran Gran can even force the avatar to do what she wants.”  
He looked like he was trying not to laugh.

Sokka leaned in Bato's direction and stage-whispered: “You should have seen his face. I swear it was green.”

Now Bato really laughed and Sokka joined in. It felt good to let some of his worries go, even if it was only temporarily.

Bato let Sokka snack on some sea prunes and some honey. Which, yeah they didn't go together but Sokka was hungry and he liked both things.

While they waited for Hakoda to arrive, Bato and Sokka chatted about the daily life on the south pole. Maybe some people would call it gossiping. But honestly what else was as entertaining in this fairly remote place?

Apparently, the little Kato had gotten into trouble for stealing octopus balls at the market. Well, he wasn't as much stealing them as he was just munching happily away while still standing at the stall and not paying.  
Sokka thought it was hilarious and wanted to try eating straight from the display the next time he visited the market.

When Sokka's Dad finally arrived at home he wasn't surprised to see Sokka there. Hakoda hugged his son and ruffled his hair, then he kissed Bato on the cheek and sat down at the table next to Sokka.

“What brings you to my fine hut this evening, Sokka?” Hakoda asked.

“Just wanted to drop off some papers and thought I'd stay for dinner.” 

Hakoda smiled.

“We're always glad when you drop by. We still have time to make up that we lost during the war.”

Sokka nodded. When he was being honest, he was glad to spend his evening here. He only had two other options. One was going to Gran Gran and listen to how he should find a nice girl to marry, or how about that former girlfriend with the make up? Why wasn't Sokka with her anymore? 

Sokka knew that Gran Gran didn't mean any harm but it was hard to listen to when he felt so isolated at the south pole. And although the break up between Suki and him had been whole-heartedly mutual, it still hurt. Suki still send him letters about her recent adventures and he sometimes wrote back, but if he though about her too much he had the feeling that he had fallen into ice water and his air supply had suddenly been cut off.

The other option was going to his own hut and be alone, which wasn't very promising and lately it had been hard to be alone with his thoughts in the dark.

“I'm always happy to spend time with you too, Dad.”

They talked a bit more about the current events in the world when his Dad suddenly turned to Sokka and said: “I almost forgot, I got a letter from the fire nation today.”

Sokka looked up, puzzled. “The fire nation?”

“It's a letter from the fire lord himself.”

That didn't make any more sense to Sokka.

“You mean it's from Zuko? What is he writing?”

Sokka and Zuko had been quite friendly once, but they hadn't talked in a few months. When they met at official meetings with other high-ranked people, (was Sokka high-ranked in comparison to Zuko? Almost definitely not, Sokka thought) they fell back into their easy banter. But it seemed like neither of them knew how to keep up in letters with each and honestly it wasn't like Zuko was an essential part of his life at any point.

“He said he wanted to visit.”  
Sokka almost choked on his water.

“I'm sorry, what? He's coming to the south pole? When and why exactly?” 

“In his letter he said it was to keep up diplomatic connections and ensure that our nations are friendly with each other.”

Sokka's was confused as to how Zuko wanted to ensure diplomatic connections with thirty-two people from the southern water tribe. It would make much more sense to visit the north pole with such intentions.

“The letter stated he would be arriving sometime next week, depending on the weather conditions.”

Okay, that was some news that Sokka didn't know how to process. Neither did he know how to prepare for this.

What made Zuko come to the south pole?

Sokka guessed the only way to know was to wait until he arrived and ask him himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was meant to be more easy going and fun. i don't exactly know what happened.  
> i feel like my brain is full of cotton balls and I am now on day 22 of quarantine so I have gone a bit crazy.
> 
> am I projecting onto Sokka? maybe
> 
> please let me know if this reads as a cohesive piece because I honestly can't tell anymore. also english is not my first language so let me know if you find any mistakes.  
> please leave a comment and kudos, I really appreciate it so much!!


	2. Zuko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is chapter 2! The last nice comment (thank you to vi!) made me finish this chapter and upload it :)  
> I hope you enjoy it! this time it's in Zuko's perspective and our fire lord is as tired as me

Zuko hadn't slept in two days. The night before those two days, he had slept for exactly three hours and honestly now Zuko felt as if he had one too many drinks.

One of his advisors said something and Zuko couldn't make out his words. It felt as if the words were slowed down by his brain and then disappeared before he could understand them. He squinted and tried to grasp what was said but he came up short. 

Shuffling his papers, he tried to remember what this particular meeting was about. Something about borders, perhaps? That came up at least once a day. Or maybe it had been about burglars? The words seemed quite similar in Zuko's mind today.

Somehow he got through the tedious meeting. It felt like it had lasted hours on end, in reality, it probably had only been about one. 

After the meeting he requested that he'd be given a written summary of the matter, so that he could go over it again when he was alone. This was a trick he had learned from his uncle Iroh. 

His uncle was running a tea shop again, this time in the fire nation, to be closer to Zuko. It had been a compromise, Iroh didn't want to leave his nephew alone with all these responsibilities and Zuko didn't want his uncle to stay just because of him.  
So now, his uncle came by to give him advice when Zuko requested it. He also just came by when he wanted to, because Zuko did rarely ask him advice. Randomly showing up, pestering Zuko about not seeing him enough and giving suggestions in a flowery language that Zuko had a hard time deciphering seemed to make his uncle quite happy, actually.

The few times that Zuko had gone down to the tea shop ranged from a nice outing to a horrible disaster. Either Zuko had to take his guards and be recognized, causing the customers in the shop to spill their tea in shock, when four guards in full uniform entered with Zuko, or he had to sneak out without his guards and hope that no one wanted to stab him if recognized. 

The fire nation was divided in their opinions of Zuko. Unlike the other nations, the fire nation had had the upper hand in the war and some people shared the sentiment that the war would have brought them more land, more money, simply more for their greedy hands. Other people knew how horrible the war had been. Sons never returning back home, large fees to the former fire lord and houses burning when people couldn't pay their debt. Since the border had been reopened, folk from the other nations had started, slowly and carefully, to visit and travel to the fire nation. Stories had been shared of how the war had affected all of them. Both sides of the war had lost so much. Maybe there really were no winners in any war. 

The people, who thought the fire nation should have won the war, obviously rejected Zuko. He had helped the avatar beat his own father and, in the eyes of some, committed unforgivable treason. 

Now that there was no war to be worried about, there were protests. Protests against Zuko, protests against the protests against Zuko. Secretly, Zuko thought, that after a few years of peace, people were getting restless and creating their own drama. 

Firebending often was rooted in anger and in the fire nation, anger was inherited like dark hair. If there wasn't a war and other nations to be angry about, there had to something else to direct their anger at. Sometimes that happened to be Zuko. He was a good target, everyone knew him and enough people had already hated him when he got banished at 13, not mentioning when he had turned on his father for real. There had been rumours of a group forming, who wanted to honour Ozai. 

Zuko felt a weight on his chest, as he thought about all of this, while walking back to his chambers.  
Nodding at the guard stationed in front, he entered and closed the door behind him. 

Now that he was alone, he felt even more tired. Zuko's eyelids felt heavy, as if something kept dragging them down. He felt horribly exhausted.

There were papers, that he still should go through, and he should read up on what he had missed during the meeting this afternoon. Instead, he felt like just ripping his hair tie out and going to sleep. 

Uncle Iroh had said, that Zuko should find a right-hand man that he actually trusted, so that he could share some of his work but trusting was hard after what happened with his family. Zuko feared if he let somebody else handle even a few minor tasks, that it would reflect badly on him, if something went wrong. He couldn't afford that, it would be giving his doubters proof that he wasn't capable of being the fire lord. 

With that thought, Zuko decided that he would look at the papers today after all, called for a tea and sat down to work, even though he could barely focus.

A few days passed, then a week and while Zuko slept more, he couldn't shake this aching tiredness, which put cotton into his ears and plunged his brain in lukewarm water.

It was evening, the sun glowing orange and Zuko was sitting on a bench in the gardens. Hoping that fresh air would make him feel more awake, more real, he had come out and watched the turtleducks by the pond.

The little turtleducks were splashing around, while their mother watched them from nearby. They didn't seem the concerned about borders or burglars. Lucky them.

The stones crunched as someone walked on the path in Zuko's direction. He wasn't worried, a guard was sitting on a bench near Zuko. (He had ordered the guard, Akai, to sit. He didn't see a reason for Akai to uncomfortably stand by him and now his guard was sitting in an uncomfortable position with his spine very straight, but at least his discomfort was his own fault rather than Zuko's.)

The footsteps became louder and Zuko opened his eyes, to see his uncle walking toward him.

“Hello, Zuko. I heard you were here.” Iroh greeted him. 

“Uncle! I'm happy to see you.” Zuko said surprised, stood up and embraced Iroh, who smiled and gave him a pat on the back. 

“How is the tea shop? Is anyone bothering you?” 

Iroh shook his head and replied: “Everything's been calm, Zuko. You don't need to worry. Actually, people have been stopping by to ask me about my travels with you recently.”

Zuko snorted. “Really, that's what they ask you about and not about,” He made his voice deeper. “The Dragon of the West.”

His uncle leaned back on the bench. “Seeing as that is not a true story, I'd rather convince people of your good heart, than tell a made up tale.”

His good heart? Uncle always had been a bit soft but Zuko thought that sounded quite absurd. Sure, he had made the right decisions in the end but he was still trying to make up for his mistakes along the way. He felt like there were some things that you could not excuse or be forgiven for. Like trying to capture and kill somebody. Repeatedly.

He scrunched his face up. “I don't think you can convince anyone that I have a good heart.”

Iroh sighed. “You're always so hard on yourself. You had to grow up with Ozai as a father. The avatar has forgiven you and so have his friends. You should do the same.”

Zuko said nothing. 

“I actually came here because I heard from a little bird that you've been more stressed out than usual.” Iroh said to pick up the conversation again.

“What little birdie? And I'm fine.” 

Uncle Iroh nodded at Akai and Zuko eyed him suspiciously. Akai suddenly seemed very interested in the bench's armrest.

“He told me you haven't been sleeping and you have been refusing any help from you advisors.”

Zuko grumbled. “I can't trust any of them. They might share my father's beliefs.”

“I doubt they do because I've selected them myself and secondly...” Iroh trailed off. “Zuko you can't run a nation by yourself. You're working yourself to death. Why don't you take some time off?”

Zuko looked up. “Take time off? I can't take time off from being the fire lord. Especially not now with the protests. My doubters would say I'd left the fire nation on their own.”

“So make diplomatic visit to somewhere relaxing. Maybe visit a friend.” Iroh had clearly thought about this. 

“I'm not sure that's a good idea,” Zuko said. “And anyway I've already visited Toph.” 

And he would not visit her again in the soon future. For multiple reasons.

“Zuko, please trust me. I worry about you. Just for a few weeks. You can pick where you want to go and I'll send any important decisions to you.” Iroh said. 

Zuko was surprised, that his uncle really seemed concerned about him. He really was fine. Maybe he didn't sleep and was stressed out but he was totally fine. And he should be, Zuko thought, his father and Azula weren't there to bother him and there was no war. See? All reasons to be fine.

But a holiday also sounded great. To not do anything for a few days sounded like heaven to Zuko at the moment and if uncle Iroh would watch over the meetings and decisions... Zuko trusted him. 

“If it's a diplomatic visit and only for a few weeks. Then fine.” Zuko finally said.

Iroh looked relieved. “Pick somewhere to go and I'll get a ship ready.”

Zuko nodded.

They talked for a while after that, about the tea shop (Iroh excitedly told him about a new sort of tea he invented, that had bits in it and Zuko thought it sounded horrifying.) and about the beginnings of tourism happening in the fire nation. The islands were becoming quite popular.

Iroh did most of the talking and Zuko nodded contently along with the chatter.

After his uncle left, Zuko thought about where to go. Now that he was, apparently, going on holiday.

Visiting Toph was definitely out of the question, as well as Aang and Katara. Zuko didn't want to be third-wheeling and travelling on Appa with them didn't seem that appealing. He considered visiting Mai, but he could hardly make a diplomatic visit to the other half of the fire nation.

He didn't want to visit the earth kingdom (Firstly, Toph, Secondly, if he visited the earth kingdom, he probably would have to make actual diplomatic visits and that defeated the purpose of this disguise).

Zuko counted his friends. There weren't that many. Maybe five. He didn't have any friends of the northern water tribe. Which was understandable, since he had broken into their holy place. He had apologized since then but still.

But he did know someone who lived on the south pole: Sokka. 

He liked Sokka, Zuko thought. Sokka always told jokes when they met and they were actually funny if you got used to Sokka's weirdness. He also had a great intuition when it came to annoying people, who pestered Zuko about his past.

For example the Banquet in honour of Kyoshi last autumn. Sokka had seemed a bit off and had snuck out during the performance of the Kyoshi Warriors, but he had still pulled Zuko away later, when he was being pestered by a woman who seemed convinced he had burned down her field the year before. Zuko certainly did no such thing, but trying to make those people understand that was usually just lost time. 

They didn't talk that much outside of their occasional meetings but Zuko had ran out of nations and friends for his holiday.

Additionally, Zuko didn't have to be concerned about diplomacy, because he already knew the tribe's leader: Sokka's Dad. Zuko thought he should definitely get bonus points for not only never having a bad encounter with Hakoda, while he was chasing the Avatar but also for actually helping to break him out of jail.

So, the South Pole and Sokka it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! if you liked it please consider leaving a comment, it really means so much too me :)  
> if you find a mistake feel free to point it out, as no one reads these before uploading but me.
> 
> my uni has started online learning and honestly i've already cried at least five times because of it. so i will try to upload as I have time. I actually abandoned my neurolinguistics assignment this afternoon to finish this, so uni is really going great 
> 
> i hope you're staying safe :)


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